Not one single kit!
 

I went into a Hobby Shop today. A really good size Hobby Shop.

I needed CA and some Epoxy that I use only as glue. I know the shop, because I've been in it before. I used to purchase old model magazines there. The older the better. This was about 16 years ago. At that time, they also had a hundred mags to look through, and all were for sale. They had a great selection of contemporary model magazines, also for sale.

There was not one wooden model airplane kit. I'll say this again in case you missed it. There was not one wooden model airplane kit.

The clerk said he could order something.

There was a handfull of HO Train magazines and a couple of model magazines.

I almost forgot. Loaded, ceiling to floor with ARF's. From small electrics to a couple of 1800.00 Jets.

Charles

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Many of us (perhaps most) in other areas of the country have already experienced that revelation years ago. Welcome to the club.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Which Club is that?

Charles

RE: Not one single kit!
 

The one where companies are trying desperately to make money in a tiny market with a horrible economy?

You know we have this soaring economy that has been out of recession for months on end with NOOOOOO chance of a double dip.

Don't we?

RE: Not one single kit!
 

And where had you been purchasing your kits during the 16 years? The LHS can only sustain itself if they have customers who purchase from them. If we continue to use the on-line via internet store, the LHS numbers can only dwindle in number or must shift their inventory to sale what people are buying.

The exception to this would be stores like ValleyView RC where the customer (and even non-customer) support is fantastic. People like Jody Haack, or Ralph Cunningham (RCIgnitions), or Bill Carpenter (CH Ignitions when he returns hopefully), etc are our wellspring.

Support those who support our hobby.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS">i went to my LHS a couple weeks ago for some supplies for a tiger II and about the same thing. (which i had to order)there was a set of GP floats (.40 size) kit in box; a TF P-40 gold kitsomeone i guess ordered and never came back for; and a crap ton of BARF's. what's this world coming to when you can't even hardly get a box of sticks anymore and the new convenience is lazyness. COME ON PEOPLE, GET A HOBBY AND PUT SOME TIME INTO IT. i'm curious what would happen to the market and hobby (not that this wouldEVER happen), but if everyone suddenly wanted to build their own planes instead of buying some chinese factory assembled fire log, and went on strike against buying BARF's. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...bout_smile.gif


and i do believe in supporting my LHS, i could have bought the kit through tower for the same price, but the manager dude is cool and sells stuff for tower prices. minus the shipping for me, and it gives them business instead of the online stores. he's always happy when i come in. but i suffer the inconvenience of waiting 2 or so weeks. the little stuff, i don't even look on line for.</span>

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Well guys... let's face it - you are all correct - but... we did it to ourselves.

This world believes in INSTANT GRATIFICATION;

Why spend months building when I can BUY a model ready to fly today!
I'll be bored with it in a week so why waste the time on it?
I can buy a new one for less than I can repair the old one.

and the list of comments goes on... sound familar? [:o]

What's that infamous quote from the Vietnam era?... "WE have found the enemy, and he is us"

(but if you are REALLY interested in BUILDING something... have a look at the AMR ads here on the RCU - nice looking birds!)

RE: Not one single kit!
 

BBBAIR, you got THAT RIGHT!!!! Listen up guys, keep buying that Chinese stuff on the net & there will be NO LHS left!!!!

RE: Not one single kit!
 

What is AMR?

RE: Not one single kit!
 

AMR= Aircraft Modelers Research. One of the few companies releasing new kits on the market. I have built 2 of their kits and they are really nice. If you are looking for a large kit they are the place to go.
Anthony

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Yeah Cowboy.............but your guy............Harry Reid seems to think everything's OK............you folks should close the gates and not let him back in NV

RE: Not one single kit!
 

ENJOY!

http://www.amr-rc.com/

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Went to that website.

Some good still left in the hobby.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

+1 This isn't anything new, I'm surprised you just noticed. I have Nice Twice Hobbies here and the owner comes up with all kinds of OLD kits. He stocks almost nothing new in kits at all. Tons of ARFs. He finds stuff at estate sales and it is a consignment store so new {{old}} stuff comes in every day. The day of any hobby shop stocking kits went out with bow ties and high button shoes. OK, maybe not that long ago but it happened in a big way about 15 years ago when people quit building and started buying ARFs. Nothing new about it.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

It's sad, but it's not going to change. <div>I have noticed this as well. Some employees won't even recognise the existence of a proper kit.  They will just show you to the latest foam selection. The best (if that's the word...) I witnessed was a "builders kit", for "experts" being sold to a new pilot. It was a small foam warbird, and the seller commented on the skills he would need to properly install his own radio and motor. The newcomer was sufficiently turned off from the apparent PhD he would be needing to make the aircraft flyable that he ended up with a RTF instead. </div><div>
</div><div>Even more sad is that there are several new kit makers, yet the major distributers won't carry them. When was the last time you saw a kit advertised as "new" in an R/C magazine or sales flyer? Anyone who does not know of these manufacturers will never hear of them with the one track media that is sold to them through countless adverts and internet banners. </div><div>Here in Canada, we have Great Hobbies, which does a great job of keeping the kits recent and available, which is more than most others are willing to do. </div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Just an FYI. I fly with about 40 other pilots here in NV. In Calif. it was a lot more. I'm the only builder left that I know that builds on a regular basis. I gave up kits a lot of years ago and started just buying plans to build from. If someone gives me a kit or a really good deal on one I will build it. In Calif. the club started a racing class that would require building a kit, it was the Kaviler. I built a lot more then just one for the guys. Building is no longer the norm so shops aren't going to stock kits that they have to pay for and no one buys. There are a lot of guys on the building forum but not a lot of new building threads, just the same old same old. Plans building is the new kits. It's easy and fast, you get to choose the wood you use. Done correctly it's a lot cheaper to come out with a complete and finished plane, about the price of the kit. The kit is almost a dead item. If you want to build then you best learn to cut your own kit.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

AMR kits are nice but kinda pricey !! of course all giant stuff is pricey & I have seen Ken Spears AMR Decathlon and its a bueatiful bird and flys like a dream !! Oh better not forget his partner in crime Ross Woods who also had a huge part in the build !! I know AMRs kits are top notch and are lazer cut and well engineered, thus the price is well worth it !! as far as kits go and the hobby, I agree it seems everyone now days are into the INSTANT GRADIFACATION arena. I constantly scan RCU and RC groups for kits !! I also started to scratch building and have built a few Meisters, P-47 & F4u for a lot less money than you would ever imagine !!! Their are still a lot of KIT Cutters out their also send them your plans and they will lazer cut it !! some such as Lazer Lizard keep some in stock such as Zeroli & Smith, along with precision cut kits and dont forget Hostetler & Bates. if your into small stuff try Manzano laser works and Pat Tritles site and how about yellow aircraft and the 3W higherend scale kits and jets hope this helps although the main cause of local hobbyshop to fail is the www yep world wide web and such sites as HobbyKing & bannana hobbies !! just to name a few !!

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Agreed, not much choice anymore for kits. I looked and looked locally, nothing, not even the run of the mill trainer, all ARF, RXR and RTF.  I picked up a couple trainers, a foam one and a balsa ply one, but this winter I plan to build something, maybe just finish one that my friend started a while back, a B-26 Marauder. I am considering a P-61, but finding a kit for that is very hard, only 2 that I know of and that is just for the wood, no hardware.  One of them doesn't even have plans, just a box of wood, pans are extra, from someone else.

There is just no appreciation for skill anymore, not when you can pickup nearly true to scale ready built planes, My T-34 is a really good looking plane for a RTF. I would like to build a second wing for retracts, but there aren't any plans to match it, I would have to basically reverse engineer one.  But for $100 I can buy a completely assembled, covered wing that I would just need to drop the servos on and screw it to the plane.

One other thing, the LHS carries very little if any glow or gas engines, mainly just EP.  The other thing, if something is wrong with the plane, no one there knows anything anymore.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Would if I could....that's the result of California flooding into Nevada during the housing bubble. Maybe people have learned, but I doubt it. Should have added the wink wink in there.....

RE: Not one single kit!
 

A couple of years ago, a business trip took me to Calgary. I found a hobby shop, I think called Model Land, that had a full basement of kits. This was wall to wall, floor to ceiling, about 25 feet long of kits stacked on end. I recognized it for the rare find it was. I just looked at my traveling companion (a non flyer) and said, "I'm going to be here for a while". And yes, I bought a kit.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

This thread is a duplicate of the "Where have all the Kits gone" thread. That thread was started about the same time as RCU. It eventually became a resource, with listings of where to get kits - and there are a lot of them.

If you can't find a kit to build, you're not looking.

And if you really want a hobby shop to stock kits.... buy a hobby shop and give it a try. There are plenty of kit manufacturers willing to sell to you. See that thread.

Dave Olson

RE: Not one single kit!
 

When RCU started there were still kits on LHS's shelves,, that thread is only 3 years old.

Things that went away that won't come back?
Service stations, Drive in Movies, Candy Stores,,, The list goes on,,

I know it may be hard to accept, but the days of the LHS are coming to an end, when it costs $10-$15 or more to drive there, but only $3.99-$6.99 to ship something who can really to blame the consumer?

RE: Not one single kit!
 

The trouble in my mind is not "where have all the kits gone" but "why are kits no longer advertised, demonised in ARTF adverts, (Don't waste your time building, when...), and not sold to beginners?" <div>
</div><div>Building is what got me into the hobby and I know many others would be thrilled to go out and buy a kit. In fact, one of the first reactions I get from a balsa model to a non-modeller is something along the lines of "I built those when I was a kid" or something similar. Unfortunately, when they search "RC model aircraft" in Google, all you get are electric, foam parkflyers. If you looked at what is being sold to the mass consumer market, you would be forgiven to believing that balsa kits no longer exist.</div><div>
</div><div>Model aircraft have changed the same way that real aircraft are no longer wood and fabric. </div>

RE: Not one single kit!
 

Kids don't build models these days they 'text'! It's just a sign of the times. True 'Modelers' will find a way. Screw arf's and the places from which they come.

RE: Not one single kit!
 

The more time I put in a model, the more of me soars when the model flies, so I love kits and plans building. It just makes the flying sweeter, not to mention the extra adrenaline on the maidens.

But the hobby is changing, we are getting a critical mass of people who view it not as modeling, but as the sport of RC flying. Get a little experienced help sticking it together and (hopefully) setting it up then drag that ARF out to the field and FLY. If a mildly complex, (you have to do more than glue on the wings and tailfeathers), ARF intimidates these guys, what do you think a box of sticks and a roll of plans does to them? What does that, "Carve from soft balsa", foreign language phrase printed all over the plans mean anyway?

Every time I see an uncovered balsa structure, I am fascinated by the potential it represents. Maybe those of us who enjoy building should bring works in progress to the field more often. How is a newbee to know that there is so much more modeling fun available unless they are shown and their imaginations get fired up. When guys who have purchased an ARF or three start coming in the LHS and asking about kits to build, the shelf contents will change. It's up to us who have been been building for years to show the newer ARF pilots how much more fun is available.

sp
Who is not adverse to slapping an ARF together while a building project gestates on the bench.